Trump pledges auto, pharma tariffs in ‘near future,’ sowing more trade confusion
According to President Donald Trump, he will shortly declare tariffs on medications and cars.
Later, Trump expanded his list to include the semiconductor and lumber industries.
It was unclear if the recently announced sector-specific tariffs would be implemented following the April 2 tit-for-tat "reciprocal tariffs."
Hours after announcing a proposal to impose
25% tariffs on all nations that purchase gas and oil from Venezuela, the president made his most recent remarks during a Cabinet meeting.
In an indication of his intention to add more extensive levies to his upcoming "reciprocal tariffs," President Donald Trump stated on Monday that he would soon announce tariffs aimed at the auto, pharmaceutical, and other industries.
Trump declared during a Cabinet meeting, "We'll be announcing cars very shortly." "As you are aware, we have already announced aluminum and
steel."
He declared, "We have to have pharmaceuticals, so we'll be announcing them at some point."
In the very near future, not the indefinite future,
Trump stated, "we'll be announcing some of these things."
Later on Monday, Trump added the timber and semiconductor industries to his list at another White House event, stating that tariffs on those two sectors would be implemented "down the road."
Trump stated at the same event that he "may give a lot of countries breaks" on the reciprocal tariffs, which are scheduled to go into effect on April 2, while piling on new industries for possible duties.
Trump first responded, "Yeah, it's going to be everything," when asked if sectoral tariffs would also begin on that day.
"But not all tariffs are included that day,"
he continued.
Additionally, he made a suggestion that vehicle taxes might be revealed prior to the start of the reciprocal tariffs.
"We will likely announce that in the coming days, and when April 2 arrives, it will be reciprocal tariffs," he stated.
Despite Trump's indication a week earlier that both sorts of tariffs would begin on the same day, the White House was likely to leave industry-specific penalties out of the April 2 batch, according to a Wall Street Journal article on Sunday.
The president's most recent remarks were made just hours after he threatened to impose 25% tariffs on all nations that purchase gas and oil from Venezuela.
During the Cabinet meeting, Trump declared, "Every nation in the world has stolen from us."
He claimed that "something we did with Venezuela was long in the making." "And we'll be making car announcements soon."
Earlier Monday, a White House official told CNBC that the tariffs aimed at particular industries "may happen or may not."
The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity, stated that "no final decision has been made as far as sectoral being tacked onto reciprocal."
Following suggestions that Trump may be easing his tariff ambitions, major stock indexes surged Monday.
When CNBC asked the person for more comment after Trump's comments at the Cabinet meeting, the official did not immediately reply.
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